Numerical modeling of the immersion quenching process using an Eulerian multi-fluid modeling approach : doctoral dissertation
Numerično modeliranje procesa gašenja z uporabo Eulerjevega večfaznega pristopa

english

doktorska dela

2014

Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za strojništvo

Optimization of heat transfer characteristics in automotive industries is one of the more important factors leading to reductions in fuel consumption and lower emissions values. Efficient heat treatment techniques, like immersion quenching, have been introduced in order to replace heavier metals with lower weight alloys (aluminum), which results in vehicle weight reduction and consequently improved fuel consumption and emission values. Immersion quenching is one of the more important heat treatment techniques introduced in automotive industries, where heat transfer plays a vital role in determining the structure and mechanical properties of the material (e.g. the cylinder head). This presented PhD thesis deals with the development and validation of improved computational methodology in order to simulate the heat transfer characteristics of the immersion quenching cooling process, as implemented within the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code AVL FIRE. The boiling phase change process between the heated part and a sub-cooled liquid domain is handled by using the Eulerian multi-fluid modeling approach, where each phase is treated as interpenetrating continua. While for the fluid domain mass, momentum and energy equations are solved within the content of the multi-fluid modeling approach, where only the energy equation is solved to predict the thermal field within the solid region. Result comparisons between the measurements and corresponding numerical simulations using the variable Leidenfrost temperature with additional interfacial forces showed very good agreement. The comparisons were performed on an aluminum step-plate test piece with different thicknesses along its length and on a simplified aluminum cylinder head structure. The specimens were submerged within the liquid domain at different pool temperatures and different solid part orientations, where the solid temperature histories predicted by the numerical model correlated very well with the provided measurement data.

08.08.2023